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...My immediate reaction to people complaining about "all the fanservice in these episodes" was "there was fanservice in these episodes?" So while you call it overboard, some of us didn't even notice it being any different at all.

I'm on that boat as well,don't really see how this episode was any different from something like episode 5 of season 1

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BTW, seems that around today it was announced that Yagami will be among the 9 members of SKE48 to graduate anytime within this first quarter, which means, if Satelite goes ahead with further sequels or any spinoffs, either they'll have to make up an excuse (but not an excuse that could anger fans) or keep her signed on -- out of her group -- to continue as Sonata.

Tsubasa should be very aware of who is Chieri's father. Considering Chieri is the one getting the push, she may even suspect Zodiac already. I believe the main problem for her is discovering the reason. She probably have no idea of the research Zodiac is doing and what they and the D.G.T.O. could gain with it.

Tsubasa should be very aware of who is Chieri's father. Considering Chieri is the one getting the push, she may even suspect Zodiac already. I believe the main problem for her is discovering the reason. She probably have no idea of the research Zodiac is doing and what they and the D.G.T.O. could gain with it.

Of course. To begin with getting a push by sponsors is nothing rare for idols. Tsubasa is suspicious because this is Zodiac we're talking about and she knows it's likely they're up to no good.

IRL, the members are voted for top positions by means of ballots that goes with the singles, and the practice of bulk-buying multiple singles (regarded as very wasteful by critics) is even acknowledged by the management.

If Zodiac is covertly trying to position Chieri by this method through proxies and cutouts, then yes, it surely trips a wire and Tsubasa sees it as highly suspicious. I could also read Chieri's unease because of it, I mean, for a trainee to make it to the 9th position would be a huge upset (IRL, in last year's elections, the highest a trainee ever got to rank was 34th).

If Zodiac is covertly trying to position Chieri by this method through proxies and cutouts, then yes, it surely trips a wire and Tsubasa sees it as highly suspicious.

I don't think Zodiac is doing that. I think they're just backing Chieri's career. Like, maybe that gravure photo-shoot she was doing is to be published by a publishing company owned by Zodiac. Basically funding her career in different ways to create more visibility for her. That kinda thing.

I mean, the anime goes out their way to show that the fans like Chieri a lot. See how they react to her every time she appears. Being ranked is consistent with this so I don't think Zodiac would need to buy votes. Besides, that would indeed be suspicious as hell.

I could also read Chieri's unease because of it, I mean, for a trainee to make it to the 9th position would be a huge upset (IRL, in last year's elections, the highest a trainee ever got to rank was 34th).

Chieri is right to be uneasy. Even knowing nothing about what her father is up to, she's knows she's good, but not that good, and she understands what she said at the trial made her popular, but it shouldn't have made her all that popular over true AKB members. Right now, the small size of AKB0048 may hide the ballot-stuffing we suspect Zodiac is up to, since Chieri didn't have to beat out anywhere near as many people as a trainee in regular AKB48 would have to to get that high in the elections, but if she gets that high or higher in the final count, or WINS the elections in the end, things will become a lot more than just "uneasy," I suspect. She won't believe she earned it fairly, and it will hurt her, just the way the mere suspicion of it was hurting her in this episode. Worse, if any of the people who get beaten in the elections are suspicious and blame her instead of looking for whoever was really responsible, it could tear her up inside.

The only plus side is that since Chieri's father seems to want her to become more in sync with her kirara and glow brighter so he can study it and her, using underhanded means to make her win the election will probably not get him what he wants.

I would like to know just how many outfits these girls have in their wardrobes!
And each member's is a little different! So say if there have been five different sets of outfits for the girls, with nine main characters, we're talking more like forty-five individual outfits....and that doesn't include the 75TH GENERATION'S OUTFITS....

Ask character designer Risa Ebata and the production staff; most of them were based on or inspired by actual performance costumes (the "Iiwake Maybe" ensemble is probably the most distinctive and famous), everyday clothing and outfits used by the real-life AKB members. The best thing about it is that it makes the characters more easier to identify by even one change to their ensemble.

She won't believe she earned it fairly, and it will hurt her, just the way the mere suspicion of it was hurting her in this episode. Worse, if any of the people who get beaten in the elections are suspicious and blame her instead of looking for whoever was really responsible, it could tear her up inside.

Just plain blaming her would be utterly stupid, after all, what could she possibly do on her own to alter the results? Besides, the successors probably wouldn't be as mean about it as the butthurt 76th gen (sans Megu). The true problem is that they start inquiring on HOW it happened, which would quickly lead to the whole group finding out about her dad, which not only would provide the perfect excuse to lash on her, but would also convince Chieri that EVERYTHING she has achieved so far, not just the elections, is because of her dad, since she's always been the type to be hard on herself.

So, yeah... it's even worse than you think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

The only plus side is that since Chieri's father seems to want her to become more in sync with her kirara and glow brighter so he can study it and her, using underhanded means to make her win the election will probably not get him what he wants.

Yeah, he definetly knows at this point that there are no shortcuts to the kirara power, but I really doubt that will make a difference to anyone else, including Chieri.